The Good Things About IB?

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Our IB coordinator wants to have an IB conference with all the year 2 IB students and the students who are thinking about taking IB so we (the Year 2s) can help explain/demystify the IB diploma program, and essentially convince them to do IB.

The problem is, I don't have very many good things to say about it at the moment...

So what I want to know is, for all you people who already have your IB diplomas, was it really worth it? Did it help you out post-secondary? and do you have any encouraging words/anecdotes/personal experiences to share with these poor young 'uns who are soon going to be swamped by the IB workload??

Thanks!

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It was worth it in terms of it got me a lot of scholarships and awards and good stuff to put on the resume because after translating the IB marks back into Ontario percentages, I ended up with really good grades (that I never would've gotten without IB translation).

But it didn't really help in university because I only got transfer credits for English and econ. And second year university (at least in my program) is way harder than IB ever was. First year of uni was a breeze compared to IB though.

And um..it seems like the worst thing ever when you're in IB but once you graduate, you'll look back and go "eh it wasn't so bad" haha .

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Why don't you tell the truth that you dislike it? Save the future generations from the torturous IB!!!!1

Haha well, in my opinion:

- the experimental science syllabus' are pretty thorough and interesting? i also like the questions that they use cause it really makes you THINK rather than just regurgitate so in essence IB forces you to learn how to think analytically?

- languages: the IOP is pretty okay though i'm sure the IOC will be terrible

- geography is the best choice i've ever made

- universities find IB impressive (but only if you do well lol)

- CAS ended being great - it really helps you find a niche in your community

I guess those are mostly more detailed then you were requesting but hopefully that is a bit helpful.

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You could talk about how IB is supposed to prepare you for university life I guess. One of my favorite things about IB is CAS because it kind of makes you go out and find activities to join and they generally turn out to be quite fun. Even though the TOK syllabus irks me, I'm glad there is some attempt at getting students to step back and observe the learning process in itself, and if you're lucky enough to get a disorganized teacher the classes can basically just be little debates that vaguely follow the topics in the book.

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Well, even though I haven't finished my IB diploma yet, teachers tell us that plenty of ex-students say that the Extended Essay really helps you for Uni. Also, I agree with Charizad, CAS gets you out of all that rigourous academic work, do something either creative, physical or volunteer and usually people find CAS fun.